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scheu's review against another edition
3.0
What was probably at one time a revolutionary, subversive and thought-provoking novel is now only a curiosity in the wake of better books by Vonnegut and Robbins and Wilson. I don't think that I will ever understand the tendency of stories from this era (the 1970s) to be so paranoid and winky. Then again, I wasn't alive at the time.
This is not to say that Percy is a bad writer, but I've come to expect more from my questionable narrators and post-apocalyptic scenarios.
This is not to say that Percy is a bad writer, but I've come to expect more from my questionable narrators and post-apocalyptic scenarios.
tsharris's review against another edition
4.0
Darkly comic satire of a fractured America, written in a very different time but which nevertheless resonates today. At times hard to follow, and the narrator/protagonist, Thomas More, is exceedingly unreliable, given that he is drunk throughout the book and possibly clinically insane.
monicamjw's review against another edition
4.0
I am astounded that I have missed reading Walker Percy all these years! Found some of his descriptions of the book's setting sadly prescient, especially the reference to divisions within the Catholic Church. Most of all, I love this sentence which I intend to use often: "Here dwell my old friends and fellow madmen."
michael_kelleher's review against another edition
5.0
I found this book to be strange, beautiful, and provoking. I look forward to reading it again.
marcy_kelleher's review against another edition
5.0
I found this book to be strange, beautiful, and provoking. I look forward to reading it again.
greenblack's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
alleeme's review against another edition
3.0
Walker Percy went to my high school. He didn't graduate from there, and actually he went to the boys school that later merged with the girls school to eventually become my high school. Anyway, much was made of him back in my high school days, but his work was never required reading even amid a plethora of Southern required reading.
This being the first Percy novel I've read, I can see why it wouldn't really have been recommended to high schoolers... It's just so adult...and I don't mean that in a sexy way (although there is some light sex), rather it's adult in a stressful mental break down sort of way...
Hard to tell if this is truly apocryphal or just the raving of a madman (never date psychiatrists/psychologist). This book's tone definitely reminds me a bit of Vonnegut although only if Vonnegut were Southern and Catholic (by way of conversion which is a whole other beast). Overall interesting, entertaining, and not what I was expecting. But, perhaps ran on a little long in parts.
This being the first Percy novel I've read, I can see why it wouldn't really have been recommended to high schoolers... It's just so adult...and I don't mean that in a sexy way (although there is some light sex), rather it's adult in a stressful mental break down sort of way...
Hard to tell if this is truly apocryphal or just the raving of a madman (never date psychiatrists/psychologist). This book's tone definitely reminds me a bit of Vonnegut although only if Vonnegut were Southern and Catholic (by way of conversion which is a whole other beast). Overall interesting, entertaining, and not what I was expecting. But, perhaps ran on a little long in parts.
smuds2's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.0